Wall Street

Wall Street - a street in New York City, in the southern part of Manhattan - Lower Manhattan. It stretches from the South Broadway Street at the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. Wall Street was the first place where the  New York Stock Exchange permanently settled.

 This street brings together the major US financial institutions, among them the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, AMEX - American Stock Exchange, NYMEX - Commerce and the New York Stock Exchange NYBOT - the New York Trade Commission. Many New York financial firms no longer has its headquarters on Wall Street, but Midtown Manhattan, Long Island, New Jersey and Fairfield County.

THE HISTORY OF THE NAME:

There were many attempts to explain the origin of the name. Probably, it  was derived from a wall on the northern boundary of the New Amsterdam settlement, perhaps to protect against Native Americans. A conflicting explanation is that Wall Street was named after Walloons— the Dutch name for a Walloon is Waal. Among the first settlers that embarked on the ship "Nieu Nederlandt" in 1624 were 30 Walloon families. The Dutch word "wal" can be translated as "rampart." However, even some English maps show the name as Waal Straat, and not as Wal Straat.

The phrase "Wall Street" is also used to refer to the entire US financial market. 

Today, when we say that a joint stock company is a company on Wall Street, it does not mean that it is physically there. It means, rather, that the company is listed on the NYSE. Such companies may have their offices around the globe. Today, a large part of the workforce Wall Street consists of specialists working in the field of law, finance, employed by medium or large corporations. Many of the nearby businesses are local companies and chain stores to meet the needs of employees of Wall Street. Most of the people employed in the financial district commute to work from Long Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and the lower Hudson Valley.

WALL STREET'S CULTURE

Wall Street's culture is often criticized for rigidity. Looking back on a few decades stereotype stems from condescension to their own interests, which guided the founders of Wall Street. The  recent criticism focused on structural problems and lack of willingness to change old habits. New York also has a reputation as a very bureaucratic city, which even prevents entrepreneurs from the middle class  come  onto the market.

Over the years, certain elite persons associated with Wall Street became a celebrity, and even legendary. Although the fame of these persons is limited to community brokers and bankers, some achieved international fame. Some won it, using its financial capacity, reporting, creating investment strategies, others were remembered for their greed.

 TASK: 

Create a list of the main advantges and benefits as well as threats and drawbacks, which the Wall Street and financial market may offer for the bankers, lawyers, brokers and other people connected with it. 

Are you Single?

Christmas is coming and I hope you don't only long for your Mr or Mrs Right.

If so, I hope it will change.

I dare you see one of these magnificent places that are called best ones for Singles.

Haven't you been looking for love in all the wrong places? Let's see.

San Francisco-based financial literacy site NerdWallet put a new survey where lists the top 20 cities for singles.


It has a touch of levity, looks at something called “dating affordability,”

In addition it evaluates “date-friendliness” by calculating the number of arts and entertainment businesses and restaurants per 1,000 residents, plus “walk scores. . . to evaluate how easy it is to get around and meet people,” derived from a site called walkstore.com.

Finally the most objective criterion: the percentage of the population 15 and over that’s unmarried, also calculated from Census Bureau data.

At the bottom of this post I’ll include the 10 best cities for single men and for single women, which factors in the number of each sex per one hundred members of the opposite sex.

NerdWallet analyzed data for the 50 largest US cities. One major caveat: because the Census Bureau doesn’t count the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered singles, the numbers could be skewed, especially when calculating the best cities for single women, say, in a city like San Francisco with a large gay male community.

Right...

Here are the best cities for single women:

1. San Francisco: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 101

2. Seattle: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 97.5

3. Minneapolis: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 102

4. San Diego: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 100.7

5. Austin: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 102.6

6. San Jose: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 96.9

7. Long Beach, CA: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 94

8. Portland, OR: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 93.4

9. Denver: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 97.5

10. Los Angeles: unmarried men per 100 unmarried women – 94.8



The best cities for single men (date cost, median income and other factors affect the scores):

1. Baltimore: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men - 124.7

2. Philadelphia: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men- 122.6

3. Washington, DC: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 123

4. New York City: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 121.1

5. Boston: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 116.8

6. Nashville: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 122.2

7. Detroit: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 122.1

8. Fort Worth: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 121.1

9. Oakland: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 109.8

10. Cleveland: unmarried women per 100 unmarried men – 115.7

As you can see there are plenty more... fish? in the sea ;)

Task: GET OUT OF YOUR HOUSE. DATE PEOPLE.

TIMES SQUARE - the heart of New York

TIMES SQUARE

A square in the heart of the district  Midtown Manhattan in New York City, located at the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, stretching from street  42 to street 47.  It is one of the icons of New York City. Famous for its large number of illuminated advertising.

Earlier the square was called Longacre Square but changed  its name after the The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly built New York Times Building. The magnified area of the square, called the Theatre District, consists of alleys between buildings, VI and VIII and the streets 40 and 53, complementing the western part of the commercial center of Manhattan.  

Every New Year's Eve, at Times Square  a ceremony of welcoming the New Year is organized. The ceremony with the participation of the biggest stars of music is transmitted to approx. 1 billion of  viewers. New Year's Eve at Times Square is also considered to be  the largest this knd of event in the world. Every year approx. 1 million of New Yorkers, tourists from other states  and  around the world participate in it . The highlight of the celebrations is the ball drop, ie. leaving a large sphere on one of the skyscrapers of Times Square, which marks  the  beginning of the year.

Times Square very often  appears in literature, television, and movies. For example : 

1992 - in the film “Home Alone2 : Lost in New York”

2001-  in the film “Vanilla Sky”

2002 - in the film “Spider-Man” 

2005 - in the film “King Kong” 

"VANILLA SKY"

QUESTIONS

1. What is Time Square famous for?

2. Why the name of the square has been changed?

3. What is the biggest attraction of the New Year's Eve at Time Square?

4. Have you ever been to New York and seen Times Square? If yes, describe your experience, if no, would you ike to see it? Justify your opinion 

Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park - is a National Park in California, where you can find waterfalls, millennial sequoias, steep cliffs and one of the most famous rock formations in United States. Despite the fact, that park covers the area of 747,956 acres (3,026.87 km2), the majority of tourism takes place in the area of 7 miles square called Yosemite Valley. As the archeological finds reveal, for over 3,000 years The Yosemite Valley has been inhabited. Up to the end of 19th century the area was dwelled by the tribe called Ahwahneechee.When The California Gold Rush began, the travel to Yosemite increased dramatically.

Waterfalls - the Yosemite Park is full of waterfalls. The best time to see them is during spring, when most of the snowmelt occurs. Perhaps the most prominent waterfall is Bridalveil Fall, which is seen from the Tunnel View viewpoint. The Park also contains approximately 3,200 lakes and 1,700 miles of streams. 

                                                                                              

Giant Sequioas - massive, ancient sequoias, live in three groves in Yosemite. The most easily accessible is the Mariposa Grove, near the park South's entrance. Mariposa Grove Road is closed approximately November to April, depending on conditions. You can hike up the two-mile road when it is closed.

Rock Formations - over centuries rovers and glaciers carved 3,000 feet into solid granite to create Yosemite Valley. Half Dome is probably the most popular and sought-after landmarks in Yosemite. Some people even hike up to the top. In the picture, on the left you can see Three Brothers. The name is obvious, is made up of Eagle Peak (''the uppermost'' brother''), and Middle and Lower Brothers.

Here is a short video of a traveller Ben Brown, who visited a Yosemiet Park with a group of friends. It contains of beautiful views, its wilderness, and a touristic possibilities it gives.  

Task: Prepare a step by step plan of going for a trip to Yosemite National Park. The trip will last seven days, make sure you include accomodation, plan of sightseeing, meals and means of transport.

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Hollywood Walk of Fame

 

HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

 Sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Los Angeles's Hollywood, containing more than 2,400 five-pointed stars, commemorating the famous personalities of the world of show business.

\Joanne Woodward (actress) was the first star that was awarded (February 9, 1960).

 The stars are awarded by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in five categories:

1. MOTION PICTURES

2. TELEVISION

3. RECORDING

4. LIVE PERFORMANCE

5. RADIO

INTERESTING FACTS

•  Anyone can submit a nomination for the star.
•  The stars are awarded each year in June.
•  Every year, one star is awarded posthumously. (Not earlier than five years after the death of a person)
• Not only do the  individuals and  bands have their stars but also some Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and some animals like e.g Lassie

MICKEY MOUSE

LASSIE

 

The most often visited by fans stars: 

ELVIS PRESLEY

MICHAEL JACKSON

MARILYN MONROE

 TASK:

Let's imagine that you can give this kind of star to anyone you wish. Choose two people (they don't have to be famous) and justify you opinion. Write about 120 words.